Set and Forget - Is it real?

[Big Al]

"You don't know what you don't know..."

"Set and Forget" and "Autopilot" are banded about on sales pages right, left and center... I've just been reading one sales page and I know I'd be disappointed if I bought the actual product because 'set and forget' (surely) can only go so far?

Just curious to see what other Warrior's fink about the reality of this....

The closest I can see as being true set and forget is:

1) Create a product, set it up on Clickbank to deal with refunds and use an army of affiliates to get traffic to the product.

You might still have customer service issues and it will eventually need some sort of updating plus backend stuff to make a mint.

2) An affiliate marketer with a nice opt-in, stacks of viral reports out there, a massive amount of pre-set Autoresponders and a massive list already..

But even then you need to keep working on your list due to natural attrition and work on updating your AR with relevent content and new or appropriate affiliate products.

What is everyone's thoughts? Are there others?

Al

[radhika]

Then you knew there is no such thing 'set and forget' by now ... Right?

I really don't give a damn about that word if I see it on the sales pages. Any closest 'set and forget' thing needs some work initially and on ongoing basis.

.

[Jill Carpenter]

Um, I've had a couple of "set it and forget it" success campaigns. It is possible, but you have to really have the right nuts and bolts.

[Big Al]

Like I say "You don't know what you don't know" so maybe I'm just a bit of duffus and was missing something.

I like a bit of re-assurance : )

Thanks mate... hope the sun is shining where you are!

[getsmartt]

only if you are a rotisserie

Does not work in marketing for any period of time IMHO

[Matt.Lake]

Set it and forget it is totally possible, it just depends on how long you want to forget about it for.

Yes there is initial work involved but it's totally worth it. And sure, you may have to keep an eye on it and tweak it occasionally but you can forget about it for a good chuck of time. You don't that with most businesses.

One important thing to consider. TOTAL automation CAN be achieved through the use of systems, software and humans ( i.e virtual employees).

[DrewG]

I have quite a few 'set-and-forget' type sites. Basically, it involved building the site, optimizing for keywords, adding pre-scheduled posts, and building some backlinks to get it ranking well. After that, I really don't have to do much else...just watch the sales roll in.

[Aaron Moser]

Affiliate marketing with SEO can be set and forget. I have affiliate sites ranking for fairly low competition keywords (30-50k results) that I haven't touched in over a year (after initial website setup + SEO) and the sites still continue to bring in sales. Now if that's not set and forget I don't know what is!

If you go for competitive keywords then it may require weekly linkbuilding to stay on the top of the SERPs.

So "set and forget" is definitely REAL

[winebuddy]

Originally Posted by John Waits

There are many automated ways to make money on the net.

Just look at PPC for example.

Then there is the merchant side of things...
Just imagine if you had your own product on clickbank!

Or if you had a company which dropshipped items.

Trust me. There is a LOT of ways to "automate your income"

Thats why IM is so kick ass! But you DO have to work at it...

Thats the only real catch, trust me though... Its a good one.

Feed your brain!

What I was going to say...

A successful PPC campaign that is optimized with all of the systems in place is truly a "set it and forget it" system. All you need to do is monitor your conversion rates and your sales.

In fact, it is SOOOO set it and forget it that I may just create a product around it!

[JeffMitchell]

[QUOTE=Matt.Lake;1323862]Set it and forget it is totally possible, it just depends on how long you want to forget about it for.

QUOTE]

That is it right there. If you have a high quality Continuous advertising stream, with a marketing funnel that will creat sales, you can sit and forget for a short while if needed.

I have left town for up to 5 days without ever checking my stats. But it has taken time to trust myself away that far without killing myself.

Jeff Mitchell

[damongreene]

You can set it and forget it... but oh.. forget getting paid and keeping customers too. Any marketing will need refining... so dont forget it.

[getsmartt]

I guess it all depends on what you mean by "set and forget"

If I have to monitor conversion rates and sale, then I havent forgotten about it...

If I only have 5 days or so, then I haven't forgotten about it...

I have sites that require very little work, but I have no sites that require no work after they are set-up.

Even Clickbank or other products have some requirement that you promote them to stay ahead of competitor/copycats.


weekly link building certainly is not forgotten about...

In my eyes a "set and forget" site would be one that I could build today and would still be bring in money 5 years from now without any further work.

JMHO

[Ross Vegas]

Anything is possible. There are so many opportunities out there.

I'm really good at ideas, and designing/making new sites...for me that's fun.

So I "set and forget" everything else.

That is to say, you can always automate a huge chunk of your business, and then outsource the rest. I am --> <-- that close to having my SEO completely automated. Stuff I was staying up all night to do after staying up the night before to build the site is now happening the moment I hit publish on the page and email my assistant.

In that respect, my list building is also now automated too.

I've never really had a ton of customer service, but that's next.

Also, I have recurring affiliate commissions, those are pretty well forgotten recurring checks.

I think that's the whole beauty of selling online anyway. Why wouldn't you strive for that?

[Kelly Verge]

I did the 30 Day Challenge back in 2008. As part of this, I built two sites that I monitized using eBay feeds. Up until the recent eBay Partner Network changes, each site has made $3-$10 per month. After the changes, they're now each over $40 per month.

I haven't touched either site since Fall '08.

I have many Twitter-related successes that are just as hands-off, albeit with a shorter history.

None are huge income creators, but they are steady consistent earners.

[Steven Carl Kelly]

Yep, true "set and forget" is actually possible, I have a couple of things that are doing that for me, and have been, for a long time.

[tommen]

You can do well with "set it and forget it" if you use article marketing and a squeeze page in the resource box that has an auto responder with ready made emails attached to it.In all other cases, you need to do daily marketing.

[mesimoniv]

The secret to set and forget is that all the work is done in the beginning (a lot of work if it is worth .02). Also you need the right niche although there are millions of these.

[buckapple]

Hi,

Sometimes it's Set and Try and Remember...

I spent an hour yesterday trying to remember where I set up a CPA campaign that's still paying out, I suspect it's a blogger deal but I haven't been there in quite awhile and I wasn't keeping good records at the time so I have no clue... LOL

[garyv]

There are many ways to have a set & forget business online. There are automated blogging systems, affiliate systems, automated ebay posters, etc. And some of these actually do worse when you tweak them too much. I've found on many occasions that my automated systems make me more money when I leave them alone for a week or two and go on vacation.

[garyv]

Originally Posted by buckapple

Hi,

Sometimes it's Set and Try and Remember...

I spent an hour yesterday trying to remember where I set up a CPA campaign that's still paying out, I suspect it's a blogger deal but I haven't been there in quite awhile and I wasn't keeping good records at the time so I have no clue... LOL

I've had that happen before lol. When Twilight first came out at the movie theatre, I made a comment on some movie forum about it. That forum posting made it to the top of Google listings for Twilight, and my signature "happened" to have link to a cpa movie downloading site. I made $500 per day on that one for a week before I figured out where the money was coming from. Now I try to have some sort of tracking in place for every link I put out.

[ItsDubC]

In my experience, it is definitely possible but requires a lot of effort to bring in huge returns consistently. Of course, I wouldn't consider myself a pro or anything

[jasonmorgan]

All of my affiliate sites are running on autopilot and are essentially 'set and forget'.

I can see how 'autopilot' and 'set and forget' might not work with all IM methods but for affiliate sales I don't see the point in creating sites that require constant attention.

As stated before, you're doing a lot more work in the beginning but after that it's just a matter of basic maintenance from time to time.

The closest I can see as being true set and forget is:

1) Create a product, set it up on Clickbank to deal with refunds and use an army of affiliates to get traffic to the product.

You might still have customer service issues and it will eventually need some sort of updating plus backend stuff to make a mint.

2) An affiliate marketer with a nice opt-in, stacks of viral reports out there, a massive amount of pre-set Autoresponders and a massive list already..

Huh... way too complicated for me.

Basic SEO, high SE ranking and free organic traffic. A couple of feeder blogs running RSS feeds for a steady stream of fresh backlinks and some tools that keep the site looking alive and everything is as good as gold until the matrix crashes.

These sites may not make you millions but they can generate a great passive income that allows you to focus on other things... or spend the next six months doing absolutely nothing while collecting a paycheck.

[ladyshadowrider]

Yep, "set it and forget it" is very possible.

I have a number of blogs I've set up over the years in very small niches that earn income every month (some months more than others).

I haven't touched them since I set them up except to occasionally update the version of WordPress and the plugins.

Otherwise, they just keep humming along.

Tamara

[Sirago]

I think set and forget is possible, I mean, look at those people who run 50 minisites and make that work for them. I think if you want any sort of long-term income, you better do a good job when you "set" it or when you "forget" it, you can forget about your income too.

[Burtgummer]

There really aren't any complete autopilot ways.....but PPC in my opinion is the closest. If you can tweak the campaign to maximum efficiency, then you could leave it alone for a while, as long as the niche isn't seasonal. But I know that I would always be looking for ways to make it even better.

[Online Bliss]

I have found that sites I have set up even last year have faded from
Google's view unless I continue to work on them. They constantly need Optimization. Is there something I am missing?

Kind of reminds me of my personal relashionships.

[jasonmorgan]

I have found that sites I have set up even last year have faded from
Google's view unless I continue to work on them. They constantly need Optimization. Is there something I am missing?

It's really hard to say what the problem could be without seeing the site.

What optimization are you doing?

[Gerardas Norkus]

I have a 'set and forget' income stream:

A SEOed website that brings me ~$15 daily.

So, it's possible.

[Josef_Benjamin]

Residual Income?

Why...that's what makes IM so appealing,

Any serious entrepreneur would work hard to build a residual income from work they do once and focus less on one-time sales.

I take my one time sales and invest it into passive income oppotunities and continuity programs...it's like a self-fulling money machine.

[free2rock]

Yes it is real, you buy it, set the ebook in your computer, and forget to read it ... only real thing is you lose money